Welcome to the Mad in America podcast, a new weekly discussion that searches for the truth about psychiatric prescription drugs and mental health care worldwide.

This podcast is part of Mad in America’s mission to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care. We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.

On the podcast over the coming weeks, we will have interviews with experts and those with lived experience of the psychiatric system.

Thank you for joining us as we discuss the many issues around rethinking psychiatric care around the world.

This week, we talk to
Chaya Grossberg. Chaya shares her own experiences
of the psychiatric system and psychiatric drugs and also tells us
how she now helps and supports those struggling to withdraw from
their psychiatric medications. Chaya promotes a naturopathic
approach to supporting people with their health and
wellbeing.

In this episode we
discuss:

How Chaya was in therapy from a
relatively young age to help her deal with family
stresses

That Chaya had a good experience
of therapy

At around 16 years old, the
conversation turned to medications like Prozac

How, in the early 1990s, the
drugs were seen as new and a real advance in the treatment for
emotional distress or stress and trauma

That Chaya was mistrustful of
the medication initially

How Chaya felt the toxicity of
the medication initially but she also found that it helped with her
mood for a short time

That Chaya stopped the Prozac
without too much difficulty

How later in college, Chaya
experienced a psychotic break which led to a hospital admission and
forced treatment with psychiatric drugs

Chaya recalls being on
Risperdal, Prozac, Effexor, Buspar and Ativan as a
cocktail

How Chaya recalls not being
scared at the time even though she was forcibly treated with
medications

How Chaya found that Risperdal,
Effexor and Ativan were difficult to withdraw from

That Chaya heard other
psychiatric survivors talk about their experiences and that helped
her understand that the medications were responsible for effects
like fatigue and led to her decision to stop the drugs

That Chaya had to take her
withdrawal very slowly but still found it difficult

How Chaya ensured that she had
space when making a reduction in her medications

How Chaya took a year to go
through her withdrawal from several medications

That Chaya started attending
sessions arranged by the Freedom Centre and that was a real source
of help and support

That Chaya has used her
experiences to help and support others in psychiatric drug
withdrawal

That psychiatric drugs are not
treating biological abnormalities

Chaya’s work with people who
have been on the medications for a long period of time

That we need to create retreat
centres to help people get off the drugs

The issues around insurance in
the USA that may mean that people have to withdraw from medications
for financial reasons

That we should be making a
community response to these issues rather than rely on
medications

About the Podcast

Welcome to the Mad in America podcast, a new weekly discussion that searches for the truth about psychiatric prescription drugs and mental health care worldwide.
This podcast is part of Mad in America’s mission to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care and mental health. We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.
On the podcast over the coming weeks, we will have interviews with experts and those with lived experience of the psychiatric system. Thank you for joining us as we discuss the many issues around rethinking mental health around the world.
For more information visit madinamerica.com
To contact us email podcasts@madinamerica.com